French workers at Goodyear who held two of their managers hostage for 30 hours
in a dispute over redundancy pay caved in to police pressure and released
the men today.

However, staff promptly said they would occupy the factory in Amiens, northern
France owned by Goodyear, the US tyre producer, which is threatened with
closure.

Michel Dheilly, the factory director, and Bernard Glesser, the personnel
manager, walked to freedom under police protection while dozens of staff
hurled insults at them as they left the factory, ending the latest in a
series of bossnappings in French industry.